Test Kitchen Approved Shortcuts

As the mother of an eleven-month old, I have learned to compromise and that shortcuts are the only way dinner will get on the table...sometimes.

So here is my short list of short cuts:

Trader Joe's pizza dough from the fridge section (you let it rise, you roll it out, it looks homemade)
Stuffed Pork Chops from the butcher
Trader Joe's Pre-cooked Brown Rice from the freezer section, three packets to a box (nuke it in three minutes and viola)
Angel Food cake from the deli + frozen berries (thawed) + Vanilla Cool Whip (cut cake in half - diagonally, scoop out a trough around the bottom with a soup spoon, place berries in the track, replace top of cake, "frost" with Cool Whip stick in the fridge...